We get a taste of Friday night fixtures, Good and bad imo. Good because we need to wait only 4 days. Another away game against a good team, smh who created this fixture list?

Team news:

Lovren could be fit, If not Lucas continues at CB.Can won't be risked. Karius should expect to be on the bench again.Sakho, Gomez and Ings remain out of contention.Coutinho will decide our formation and tactics.

How we'd line up: Assuming and expecting Henderson, WIJI and Lallana to start regardless as they are workhorses.

I have a feeling Klopp will bench Sturridge only to introduce him late on, But i also feel we will struggle to score without Sturridge. It will be very difficult to open the Chelsea defense without a striker making those runs, Firmino will not at all provide that. We'd only be threat on counters which i do not deem would be enough imo

Also i this is a game where every chance will count, Can't have the shoddy finishing we've been doing since the start of the season.

Big game to play. It's going to be very tough because Conte is good at playing a style that Klopp has had issues with against much less talented squads. Hopefully they play just open enough for Klopp's high energy style to break the dam.

_________________Walk on with hope in your heart, and you'll never walk alone.

Big game to play. It's going to be very tough because Conte is good at playing a style that Klopp has had issues with against much less talented squads. Hopefully they play just open enough for Klopp's high energy style to break the dam.

that is a very risky team when you visit Bridge specially knowing now that Conte is incharge. Lallana and Coutinho both are too attack minded to start in a game like this. I think Klopp should not force Coutinho in the team. We need balance in midfield and we also need Sturridge as Nish pointed out.

Big game to play. It's going to be very tough because Conte is good at playing a style that Klopp has had issues with against much less talented squads. Hopefully they play just open enough for Klopp's high energy style to break the dam.

that is a very risky team when you visit Bridge specially knowing now that Conte is incharge. Lallana and Coutinho both are too attack minded to start in a game like this. I think Klopp should not force Coutinho in the team. We need balance in midfield and we also need Sturridge as Nish pointed out.

Is it really any more risky than having Wijnaldum and Lallana in midfield as Klopp has been doing? Not to me. If you look at Coutinho's performances in the past when he's been used as an 8 he's actually been pretty responsible for marking and tackling (led the team in tackles against Man City for example) and has been extremely effective all over the pitch. It's really his best role though underutilized for whatever reason. Lallana covers a ton of ground as well (more than anyone in the PL of late IIRC) and is very responsible in his tracking back.

Two high energy, technical midfielders in front of Henderson is ideal too so he has outlets for his short passing game, and he initiates really nice switches/long balls when necessary while the other two are better at ground passing/carrying the ball up the field. It provides more balance than what we've been used to so far (ideally we'd have a real Alonso or Mascherano/crusher type behind Coutinho/Lallana/Wijnaldum but it's not to be atm). If we consider Henderson a weak link in the DM role for his defensive positioning and discipline it's not like this game is going to be the one where we figure that out (though against Leicester he was pristine, so maybe he's learning).

Imagine the attacking sequences though with that set up. It gets all our best players in the game without compromising our structure or philosophy.

_________________Walk on with hope in your heart, and you'll never walk alone.

@Hapless_Hans wrote:That one game against Man City where Coutinho supposedly was great as a midfielder more than two years ago has acquired legendary status lmao

Tbf it was a virtuoso performance where he dominated both sides of the ball from midfield, but it was just being used as an example. He's played there a few times and looked good all the same, and even when he plays out wide you can often see his tenacity at work to win the ball, he just isn't nearly as often involved in the play (at least on the defensive side).

_________________Walk on with hope in your heart, and you'll never walk alone.

@Hapless_Hans wrote:That one game against Man City where Coutinho supposedly was great as a midfielder more than two years ago has acquired legendary status lmao

This is how we played in the second half of 13/14 when we won like 14 straight games and almost won the league.

GerrardHendo - CoutinhoSuarez - Sturridge - Sterling

The City game is remembered because that was the biggest game of the season. But he was similarly amazing against Arsenal (5-1), Everton (4-0), Man Utd (3-0), Cardiff (6-3), Southampton (3-0) etc in that position.

When Sturridge was injured he would be moved up to the left, Suarez would go to the center, and Allen would play in midfield.

I think the difference in these two MF is clear that none of Lallana and Coutinho are reliable enough to track back in time to help Hendo. This will expose Hendo many times , specially against a team like Chelsea.

He probably wants the option of having more energy up front than what's there with Sturridge, who he can bring on later in the game as Chelsea (and our forwards) start to tire, or if we need an offensive spark.

Although playing a bit more defensive 4-2-3-1 might not be the worst thing either, with Lucas coming in for Wijnaldum to partner Henderson.

Henderson - LucasMané - Lallana - CoutinhoFirmino

_________________Walk on with hope in your heart, and you'll never walk alone.